Box Score
The Guelph Gryphon men's basketball team topped the Western Mustangs in a last second comeback 58-57 victory to ring in the new year tonight at the W.F. Mitchell Centre.  Tonight's game will be aired on Rogers TV tape delay this Saturday (Jan. 5) at 3:00p.m.  The win moves the Gryphons to 3-5 on the season while the Mustangs drop to 1-7.
 
In his return to the Gryphon lineup, Daniel McCarthy (Guelph, Ont) led all scorers with 20 points including the game winning shot from three to steal the Gryphons first victory of 2013.  He also contributed 10 rebounds to seal his first double-double on the season.
 
In the opening frame, McCarthy immediately made his presence felt as he led the early defensive charge against the Mustangs to push the ball into the offensive zone.  Building off an early Stefan Cornelissen (Aylmer, Ont) basket, the Gryphons used McCarthy's 2-2 trip to the line to establish a six point streak to take their first lead of the game.  But as both teams settled into a defensive groove, the scoring stage became secondary as the first quarter finished with a Gryphon 11-10 lead.
 
As the Gryphon defence kept the Mustang offence at bay, McCarthy opened the scoring with a deep strike from beyond the arc to carry the Gryphon momentum into the second.  Zachary Angus (Burlington, Ont) and Trevor Thompson (Oakville, Ont) each added their own contributing baskets to keep control of the scoreboard.  But just when the clock was winding down, George Johnson (London, Ont) rallied his first points of the game from three to steal the Gryphon momentum to put the Mustangs ahead 26-24 at halftime.
 
Following an early collision between Zach Angus and Stefan Cornelliesen in the third, both players were forced to temporarily leave the game which forced a brief offensive lull for the Gryphons.  But upon their return late in the third, the Gryphon offence regained their lost momentum and doubled their output to outshoot the Mustangs 15-14.  It was a last second buzzer beater from Jack Beatty (Woodstock, Ont) that brought the game to within one as the Mustangs held on for a 40-39 lead going into the fourth.
 
Stefan Cornelliesen established a dominating presence in the paint early in the fourth to keep the game within three to give Michel Clark (Burlington, Ont) the opportunity to strike from three to tie the game at 46.  As the Gryphons finally found a consistent rhythm, Ryan Higgins (Fergus, Ont) and George Johnson rallied the Mustang defence to shut down the mounting Gryphon offence to regain their lost lead.  However, the Mustang defence began to crumble as Daniel Thompson (Oakville, Ont) struck a critical three followed by a quick basket from Dan McCarthy to tie the game.  But after consecutive Mustang baskets, the Gryphons found themselves behind 57-53 with 20 seconds left on the clock.  A quick pass to McCarthy deep in the Mustang paint allowed him to close the gap to 55-57.  Yet following a foul that forced Western's Greg Morrow (London, Ont) to the line with 10 seconds on the clock, the Gryphons began to see their redemption slip away.  But with back-to-back misses, Dan McCarthy was able to bring down the rebound to keep the Gryphons hopes alive.  As the clock wound down, McCarthy made his way casually into Western territory to face down Western's Ryan Higgins.  With three seconds left on the clock, McCarthy did the unthinkable and put up a heart-stopping three to seal a 58-57 lead as the clock wound down to complete his comeback.
 
The Gryphons look to continue their success as they travel to Windsor to take on the Lancers on January 5th.  Tip-off is scheduled for 8 pm.